


Let The Heart Rise Up

by Moon_Blitz



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Naruto Fusion, Bullying, Canon-Typical Violence, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-11
Updated: 2018-08-17
Packaged: 2019-06-26 01:46:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15653238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moon_Blitz/pseuds/Moon_Blitz
Summary: Yugi didn't ask to be the host to an ancient and powerful spirit, but he is determined to make the best of it as he works towards being the best ninja he can be. Luckily, he had good friends to help him along the way.





	1. Academy Days

The entrance ceremony for children entering the Ninja Academy was an event that wasn’t to be missed, and so Yugi stood among the crowd of children and their parents, trying to ignore the glances and whispers directed his way.

“Damn, that demon brat is here.”

“He should be locked up, not entering the Academy!”

“Think he’ll cause trouble?”

Yugi shifted his weight, staring at his feet. The upside down triangle-shaped mark on his chest tingled, and he lifted a hand to rub at his shirt, the fabric smooth beneath his fingers. He knew the guards scattered around him would attack if he so much as sneezed the wrong way, so shoved his hands back in his pockets. He wanted to run away, but this was the first day of classes, so he had to stay.

“Yugi!” His head came up as his name was called, and he brightened, spotting his best friend edging her way through the crowd to his side.

“Hi Anzu!” he said enthusiastically, giving her a smile. The muttering around him shifted, voicing anger at him for even daring to be friendly to another villager.

She grinned back, eyes sparkling. “Did you sleep at all last night? I couldn’t, I was too excited!”

“Same here.” He had lain awake in his bed at the orphanage for most of the night, hoping,  _ praying _ that by becoming a ninja, things would be different. Maybe once he could fight back, people wouldn’t be so mean to him. 

The academy’s principal called for their attention, and the crowd quieted, focusing their attention on the man. Yugi proceeded to tune out most of the speech, knowing that the words weren’t directed at him. He sneakily looked around, curious to see who his classmates would be.

Kaiba Seto was easy to spot, standing proud on the edge of the crowd. He was surprised the son of the Hokage was even here on the first day, but he had heard rumours that the Hokage was strict with his adopted sons, so perhaps he didn’t have a choice. Two boys who he vaguely recognized from seeing them around the village were nearby, also ignoring the principal’s speech. A white-haired boy stood with someone who was probably his father a little in front of Yugi and Anzu, and he wondered who the boy was, since he knew he would have remembered someone with that hair.

The speech and entrance ceremony finally ended, and the new students were divided into classes. To his delight, Yugi and Anzu were in the same class, and he walked with her. His new classmates looked at him suspiciously, and he flushed as Anzu glared back at them.

“It’s fine, Anzu. They don’t know any better,” he mumbled as they climbed the stairs to sit in the back row of the classroom. He was old enough to understand that the other children were just following their parents’ example.

“It’s not fine, Yugi! Just because their parents hate you mean they have to!” his friend insisted, frowning fiercely. “Really, it’s stupid that people don’t like you. You’re a great person, and I know you’ll be an awesome ninja!”

“Thanks, Anzu.” He gave her a smile, then gasped as the white-haired boy he had noticed earlier sat down on the other side of Anzu.

“She’s right, everyone should treat you better,” he said, leaning over to address him. Yugi stared, too stunned by his words to reply. “I’m Bakura Ryou.”

“Nice to meet you, Bakura-kun! I’m Mazaki Anzu, and this-” Anzu gestured at the still-gaping Yugi, “-is my best friend, Mutou Yugi.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both. And please, call me Ryou.” Ryou gave them a smile, his gaze lingering on Yugi for a few moments.

“R-Ryou-kun...” Yugi stopped and took a breath before plunging on, “Won’t your parents be mad that you’re talking to me?” He had seen too many friendships crumble once someone’s parents found out that their child had talked to him to be hopeful about this one.

“Not at all!” Ryou looked like he was able to say more, but the sound of the door opening cut him off.

Their teacher entered the room, and Yugi sadly noted how his gaze immediately went to the boy and the hard swallow that followed. Yugi looked away then, scanning the classroom. Kaiba was down in the front row, and the two boys he had seen earlier were on the opposite end of the back row. The blonde one noticed his glance and bared his teeth at him, his brown-haired companion laughing at the action.

“Jerks,” Anzu muttered from beside him, and Yugi bit back a frown. Maybe the boy was just joking?

\- - -

Becoming a ninja was  _ hard _ . Not only did he have to memorize the basics of chakra theory and nature manipulation, the physical training was demanding and often painful. But he was determined to succeed, and both Anzu and Ryou helped him with the parts he had trouble with. The isolation was worse, though. He was used to being ignored by the other children at the orphanage, but being ignored by those who were technically his peers hurt. 

The only two who didn’t ignore him were Jounouchi and Honda, the two boys he had noticed on his first day. They teased him whenever Anzu and Ryou weren’t around, cornering him in the bathroom or mocking him during sparring lessons. Anzu got mad whenever she caught them, but only that made Yugi feel worse. He was supposed to be getting stronger, so why couldn’t he protect himself?

\- - -

“Hey, demon brat.” Yugi froze at the now familiar name, slowly turning to face Jounouchi. Despite being almost nine, he was still much smaller than his classmate, something the other boy took full advantage of.

“What is it, Jounouchi-kun?” he asked hesitantly, wondering what Jounouchi had planned this time.

“Come with me for a sec.” Jounouchi casually grabbed Yugi’s arm, pulling him down a side hallway and into a storage room. Surprisingly, it was empty, and he wondered were Honda was.

Jounouchi swung Yugi around and pushed him up against a rack of scrolls, a kunai suddenly in his hand. “For a so-called demon brat, you’re pretty weak. The teachers are doing a crap job of it, so I figured I’d see how strong you really are.” He grinned at Yugi, the kunai now within an inch of Yugi’s throat.

The mark on Yugi’s chest flared with pain as he grabbed Jounouchi’s wrist and tried futility to pull the kunai away. “Jounouchi-kun, please-you don’t understand-you’ll get _hurt_ -”

The blonde’s grin widened and he scoffed, “You, hurt me? I’d like to see you try, demon brat!”

A surge of energy shot through Yugi’s body at the words _demon brat_. He cried out as something barged into his mind, full of rage and hatred and pain. Jounouchi’s grin faltered as Yugi’s nails dug into his wrist, and the last thing Yugi remembered was a mocking voice saying, “Still want to see my full strength, _human brat_?”


	2. Aftermath

Yugi opened his eyes with a gasp, ready to cry out and tell Jounouchi to run. Instead, he found himself staring up at a grey ceiling and a florescent light, the smell of disinfectant hanging in the air. A hospital, he realized, breathing deeply to try and calm himself down.

“Awake, hmm?” a voice drawled, and he looked over to find a man with silver hair tied back in a ponytail and wearing a fox mask leaning against the wall. The man’s posture was relaxed, but Yugi had enough training to know that he could attack at any moment.

“What...What happened?” he asked slowly, carefully pushing himself up until he was sitting. He felt drained and tired, and the bandages around his arms and face indicated that _something_ had happened after he blacked out. “Jounouchi-kun! Is he alright?” he asked anxiously, remembering the fear in his classmate’s eyes.

“He’s fine, calm down,” his guard replied cheerfully. “As for what happened...well, that’s a little more complicated.”

“It has something to do with the mark on my chest, right?” Yugi asked quietly, and the man tilted his head slightly as if surprised.

“Aren’t you clever? It does indeed. Although–” he paused, looking away. “–I’m not cleared to tell you any more than that. Orders and all that.”

Yugi pushed down the disappointment that rose up within him at those words. “It’s alright.” He was used it it after all.

The man tsked behind his fox mask, looking back at him. “You...got angry. Did some damage to the room you were in, and gave your classmate a hell of a scare, but that’s all.”

“No one got hurt?” That was good. Very, very good. He knew most of his classmates didn’t like him, but he’d hate to think he’d hurt any of them, even by accident.

“Nope.” A tap came at the door, and the man pushed away from the wall. “Looks like my time is up. Get some rest, you’ll be going back to school on Monday.”

“I will. And...thank you.” The ninja waved in acknowledgement and left the room, leaving Yugi alone with his thoughts. He was surprised the man had been so open with him – few of his masked guards ever talked to him, let alone told him anything useful.

Lying down, Yugi reached into his hospital robe and skimmed his fingers over the upside down triangle on his chest. He didn’t sense anything from it, not even a sliver of energy, and the sudden emptiness made him feel uneasy. He wished Anzu or Ryou was with him, since he was sure they were worried about him and he could use their company. But it was just him, so he sighed and pulled the blankets higher. He would take the masked man’s advice and get some sleep.

\- - -

“Yugi!”

“Yugi-kun!”

“Anzu, Ryou-kun!” Yugi beamed at his friends as they ran up to him, joining him just outside the Academy’s gates. He had been kept in the hospital all weekend, and had only be released this morning. Anzu gave him a hard look, worry clear in her eyes, and he smiled at her. “I’m fine, Anzu. They just kept me for observation.”

She narrowed her eyes, obviously not buying the explanation, but Ryou cut in before she could say anything. “I’m glad you’re ok, Yugi-kun! It must have been scary, being in the middle of a bunch of exploding tags like that. I can’t believe Jounouchi-kun was dumb enough to set them off at school!”

So that was the story the Academy was going with. It stung, knowing that Jounouchi was being blamed when it was really Yugi’s fault, and he wondered exactly how many people bought the lie. Judging by the way the other students filing past them were looking at him, not many.

“Y-Yeah, it was,” he stammered, trying to act like he had already knew what happened. Lowering his voice, he asked, “How is Jounouchi-kun?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t seen him yet,” Anzu replied with a frown.

“I saw Honda-kun arrive earlier. Usually they come to school together, so perhaps Jounouchi-kun is staying home today?” Ryou added as the warning bell rang.

“Maybe...” As they made their way to their classroom, Yugi hoped his classmate wouldn’t be absent for too long. He’d like to apologize if he could, preferably sooner than later.

Classes seemed extra-long that day, and Yugi had a hard time concentrating on the lessons. Aside from the occasional scared look, the other students ignored him, but he could hear their whispers during breaks and over lunch. Honda was in his usual seat at the back of the class, and Yugi could tell he was having just as much trouble paying attention as he was.

Once they were dismissed for the day, Yugi quickly rose from his seat and made his way over to the brown-haired boy. Honda tensed as he approached, eyes widening, but held his ground as Yugi stopped by his seat. “Honda-kun...” he started carefully, hoping he was doing the right thing. “If you don’t want to tell me, it’s fine, but how is Jounouchi-kun doing? Was...was he hurt?”

“Why–” Honda started with a growl, but quickly stopped himself. “Yeah, he got hurt. It wasn’t too bad, though.” Yugi’s shoulders slumped at the news, and he stared at the floor. He had hurt Jounouchi. Even though he didn’t remember doing so, he had caused his classmate to suffer at his hands.

“I...I see. Thank you.” He quickly bowed and turned away, still staring at his feet.

“H-Hey, wait!” Honda’s cry made him stop, and his classmate added in a rush. “Jounouchi will be back tomorrow. He, uh, had some stuff to do today, so he skipped.”

Yugi straightened slightly, half-turning to look back at Honda. His expression and tone seemed sincere, and he met Yugi’s eyes after a moment of hesitation. “Thanks, Honda-kun,” Yugi said again, giving him a small smile. Honda gave a shaky smile back, then busied himself with packing up his things.

Anzu and Ryou were waiting for him by the door, both of them giving him curious looks as he walked up. “Jounouchi-kun will be in class tomorrow,” he announced softly, unable to keep from smiling. Ryou nodded while Anzu grinned at the news.

“That’s great! Come on, let’s get some burgers,” she said, grabbing his wrist and tugging him out the door. “You need some real food after spending all weekend in the hospital!”

“The food wasn’t that bad,” he protested weakly, letting her pull him down the hall. “It was a bit bland, but not terrible or anything.”

“Probably specially-prepared food for shinobi,” Ryou said quietly, and Yugi glanced at him, surprised. He hadn’t said anything so as to not worry his friends, but he had stayed in the Military Police’s hospital instead of the main hospital used by injured ninja.

“Probably,” Yugi agreed, and Ryou smiled at him. Raising his voice, he asked, “Does Burger World still have that special on?”

\- - -

Yugi tried not to stare as Jounouchi entered the classroom the next morning. The blonde’s gaze flicked up to him as he climbed the stairs to his seat, but then he quickly looked away. Yugi couldn’t see any obvious signs of injury, and the knot in his stomach loosened a little. Even so, he lifted a hand and rubbed at the mark on his chest, a faint tingle occurring in response to his touch.

Morning classes were quiet, focusing on basic chakra use and hand seals. As the lunch bell rang, Yugi pulled some filled buns out of his bag as his friends got out their bentos, offering him some of their food as usual.

“Hey.” Yugi hunched his shoulders automatically at Jounouchi’s voice, but turned and look at him anyway. His classmate was by his desk, arms crossed and looking uncomfortable. “Honda said you asked about my yesterday,” he said roughly, looking anywhere but at Yugi.

Yugi set down the rice ball he had been able to bite into. “Yeah. I...don’t remember much of what happened after...after...the tags exploded–” he stumbled slightly over the lie, blushing in embarrassment. “–so I didn’t know how badly you were hurt.”

Jounouchi flushed and shifted his weight. “I-I’m fine. Just some scratches and stuff.” He gave Anzu and Ryou a calculated look, then mumbled awkwardly, “Can we meet after school? All of us?”

“You want to see _us_?” Anzu repeated, sounding dubious.

Jounouchi lifted his chin, trying to look tough. “Yeah, I do! Me and Honda both.”

Wondering what he could have done or said to prompt this, Yugi looked at his friends, seeking their opinions. Anzu still looked wary, but Ryou gave him a nod of encouragement.

“Do you like hamburgers?” Yugi asked, returning his attention to his classmate.

“Hell yeah!”

“Then lets go to Burger World after school.” Sure, three of them had went yesterday, but Yugi knew the owner didn’t mind him eating there and he enjoyed the food.

“Sure,” Jounouchi agreed. “See ya later.” He returned to his seat, and Yugi and his friends resumed their lunch, quietly discussing their morning lessons.

\- - -

Jounouchi and Honda followed them out of the classroom after classes ended. “There’s a 2–for–1 deal on at Burger World right now,” Yugi told them, glancing over his shoulder. “It only applies to certain burgers though, so be careful when you order.”

Jounouchi looked torn on accepting his advice, but Honda flashed him a smile. “Do they have a deal on fries, too?”

“No, just the burgers.”

“I’ll order double and we can share,” Honda said to Jounouchi, who frowned but nodded.

“Hey, demon.”

The group stopped as a voice cut in, and Yugi swung his head around to find a green-haired boy standing in front of him. Kaiba Noah, he realized, recognizing the eldest son of the Hokage.

“Hello, Kaiba-san,” he said uneasily as Anzu and Ryou moved to stand closer to him.

Blue eyes narrowed as the older boy sneered. “That’s Kaiba _-sama_ to you, demon.” He continued to stare at Yugi as he said, “Father is quite upset with your little temper tantrum. If it wasn’t to Konoha’s benefit, you’d have been locked up for good. After all, a baby demon is still a demon.”

“Don’t call him that!” Jounouchi snapped, stepping in front of Yugi, who jerked back slightly in surprise.

“And why not?” Noah’s voice was cold as he glared at his classmate, and Yugi tugged on the back of Jounouchi’s shirt. Noah was older and very skilled for a student. If Jounouchi got hurt again because of Yugi...

“Because he’s not a demon! You–” Jounouchi’s voice caught, but he spat out, “You weren’t there! You have no idea what it was like!”

“The whole Academy felt that demon’s chakra! It was full of malice, and only a demon’s chakra feels like that!”

“Nii-sama.” Everyone turned to find Seto approaching the group, expression flat as his gaze flicked from Yugi to the two students in front of him. “Nii-sama, it’s not worth getting into an argument with a loser like him,” he said, tipping his head towards Jounouchi. His classmate bristled, but Noah’s lips twisted into a smirk as he stepped back.

“I suppose you’re right, Seto-kun. Let’s go.” Turning on his heel, he strode away, Seto following a few steps behind.

“That little–” Jounouchi cut himself off as Honda grabbed his arm.

“Calm down and don’t insult the Hokage’s kid in public,” his friend warned. Yugi relaxed as he saw Jounouchi’s fists unclench, letting go of his shirt. The mood was subdued as they left the building, but the two Kaiba siblings were nowhere in sight.

Burger World was busy but not crowded, and Yugi and the others quickly claimed a booth. Yugi ended up between Ryou and Anzu while Jounouchi and Honda sat on the other side, the former slouching against the windowsill as he scanned the menu.

Drinks were ordered and brought, and Yugi sipped his water as he considered what he wanted to eat. As usual, the restaurant emptied out once people realized he was there, and he sighed and smiled apologetically at the owner as the man came over, notepad in hand.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s they’re own fault if they choose to leave,” the owner said with a laugh. “Now, what can I get you all?” Everyone placed their order, Ryou surprising everyone by getting in on the special, and the atmosphere was light as the owner left.

“Jounouchi-kun...” Yugi started, fingers sliding up to touch the mark that was hidden by his shirt. “Did you mean what you said back there? About me?”

Jounouchi’s eyes widened, then he gave the first real smile Yugi had even seen from him. “Yeah, I do. You’re not a demon, Mutou-kun.”

“See, even he can see it! I’ve been telling you the same thing for years, Yugi!” Anzu said, elbowing him lightly in the ribs. Ryou chuckled from his other side, and Yugi blushed.

Everyone laughed at that, then Jounouchi asked quietly, “So you really don’t remember what happened?”

Yugi shook his head. “I remember going into the storage room with you, but not much more than that.” He didn’t want to go into detail, not with Anzu and Ryou here. He’d tell them someday, he told himself.

Jounouchi looked down and took a deep breath. Meeting Yugi’s gaze again, he said haltingly, “What I did...Not just the other day, but everything. It...it was wrong, and I shouldn’t have done it.”

“Would it kill you to say sorry?” Anzu said after a moment of silence.

“Yes,” Honda said, and Yugi laughed as his friend shoved him.

“Shaddup! I’m tryin’ to apologize here!”

“Apology accepted,” Yugi said, extending his hand in the Seal of Reconciliation. Jounouchi looked surprised, but completed his half of the seal. He the did the same with Honda, who gave him a smile as their fingers intertwined.

Yugi settled back in the booth as Anzu struck up a conversation with the two boys across from her, a feeling of contentment flowing through him. The mark on his chest was quiet, and he rubbed it once before letting his hand drop. He had feared the worst, but everything had turned out fine, and he had made two new friends.


End file.
